2012-01-10 15:16:12

Indian PM says malnutrition 'a national shame'


(January 10, 2012) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday described malnutrition in the country "a national shame" as he released a major survey that found 42 percent of children under five were underweight. “Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high,” Dr. Singh said releasing a report on ‘Hunger and Malnutrition’ in New Delhi. “We have also not succeeded in reducing this rate fast enough," he added. The report that surveyed 73,000 households across nine states found malnutrition among children had come down, but remained an "unacceptably high occurrence." The government’s most important tool to fight malnutrition in the country has been the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), but Singh said it can no longer rely solely on it. The 79-year-old prime minister said policy makers and programme implementers need to clearly understand many linkages - between education and health, sanitation and hygiene, drinking water and nutrition - and then shape their responses accordingly. Singh said he had always believed that a mother’s education level, economic status of the family, sanitation and hygiene, status of women in the family, breastfeeding and other good child rearing practices affect children’s nutrition.








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.